So I just came across quotes from the interview Jake Humphrey gave to Autosport International and this question (which won the person who asked it tickets to Silverstone) struck me as very interesting - Who is the most misunderstood driver in F1?

Humphrey's personal opinion is that Kimi is probably someone who gets his point across very well (and thus is not misunderstood) while Sebastian Vettel is the most underrated (and misunderstood with regards to his talent). But how about personality? Is anyone's media portrayal very different to who he actually is like?

Vettel recently said in an interview that he is very forthright and not nearly as passive as media sometimes portrays him. Hamilton may at times seem like he has a persecution complex (the gold card for the stewards) but at other times seem pretty affable. Maldonado goes crazy on track, but off track comes across as quite humble and willing to learn.

So who do you guys think is misunderstood with regards to his personality? (this is what the poll is asking). Feel free to comment on Humphrey's comments as well, but only with regards to the 'misunderstood' label (AKA no comparing which driver is more talented). The comparison is media portrayal versus what the driver is actually like not driver A versus driver B.

Also, for those who have been watching F1 for a long time, do include former drivers in your posts. I will add a poll for former drivers (who is most misunderstood) once I have enough suggestions, as I find I don't know enough ex-drivers to come up with a list myself. An example can be Michael Schumacher (not some evil overlord) or Ralf Schumacher (not a useless bum).

By the way, the current drivers poll only includes non-rookie drivers, as I find the rookies haven't had enough time to build a media persona yet to be misunderstood.

I would vote for Michael Schumacher, since he has on his record some incidents early in his career when his ability express himself in English were very poor, and process of mentally translating from German, instead thinking in English ultimately came out wrong (in heat after race), thus some of his statements are until today held against him as self-incriminating. He was in proverbial bind known also as Catch-22, since in alignment with contractual obligations he had to speak with media, but better choice (in hindside) was to let a team's spoke person (or a professional translator) to speak for him. Later on, of course, he vastly improved his language skills, and today he is quite well off in that regard.

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Vettel committed similar error on one or two occasions that caught up with him.

Michael Schumacher was the most misunderstood driver of all time,and currently,Vettel is on his way there right now.
The trophies in Seb's cabinet are supposed to be in Hamilton's and Fred's cabinet right now,that was the grand plan in 2007-2008.All the fans (me included) expected a slug fest between those two.Then some kid,who of all places comes from Germany and dominates an era that was meant for a Brit and Spaniard would never go down well with the fans and media alike.
In many ways,Vettel is a victim of Schumacher's success,and I believe any German driver that dominates will always suffer the same disrespect Seb gets.For example,if Nico Rosberg has a dominant season next year,especialy if he dominates Lewis,you will see the hate and vitrol thrown at him.I can already see it now,'journeyman driver lucking into a supercar' etc.thats Formula One's nature.
Another factor is Seb's private life,squeaky clean if you compare with the other world champions.This means any controversy that he is involved in on the track,the media run away with it because they know that they wont have many negative stories to write.For example,last year when he swore on the podium (which was wrong) there was an almighty shit storm brewed up,everyone conviniently forgetting Kimi swore too,or some saying 'shit' is not a big deal but '****' is.Any time he complains on the radio he is whining,when Kimi or Alonso do it they are legends.
All in all,he has some tough skin and with 3 wdc and a room full of trophies he should not complain right?

The topic starter makes a one=one connection between the portrayal by the media and the level at which someone is understood or misunderstood. As far as I can see, often serious journalists portray famous persons exactly correct, but the public creates its own persona in its mind.

I've read a lot of profiles of Michael Schumacher, for example. And all the profiles say he is a genuinely nice guy... out of the cockpit. It are his actions on track that are criticized. His fans felt he was villified.

Aerton Senna is another case in point. I think a lot of serious journalists who worked in F1 seemed to understand Senna to the bone. He was exactly the same person outside the car as he was in: someone for whom winning was more important than his life (and that of others). His fans felt he was vilified.

Hamilton? I think most of the serious F1-journalists know exactly what makes him tick and respect his talents, admire him even... but they also criticize his on-track behaviour which makes his fans mad.

My point is: if, as F1-fan, you read carefully, use diverse media, and try to see which journalists are objective, you can paint a pretty accurate picture of the driver in question.

The only people who can answer this question with any degree of honesty or accuracy are those who know the drivers enough to understand how different the media portrayal is. If you think a driver is different from the media image all you are really doing is comparing two media portrayals and finding one more to your liking or satisfaction than another because this is the only window you have into their world. For example with Vettel one might read a Daily Mail article portraying him as a spoiled brat ungrateful for his #1 status but then see him joking and laughing with Rocky in a VT item on weekend race coverage. Depending upon how you already feel about him one of these images will reinforce your opinion and away you go. Neither of them tell you anything about what he's like as a man, whether he hold doors open for women or visits his aging grandparents regularly and anyone who prefers the version of Vettel you reject is a fanboi or h8r. Innit.

In other words, I don't see that there's any meaningful discussion available around this question unless we all put our bonafides out there and say which of the drivers we know or have heard anecdotes about from reliable sources, collate the information and then conclude. 'I heard from a friend who knows someone who once asked Hamilton for an autograph' isn't good enough and a poll won't achieve anything at all except become another popularity contest.

That's not to say the thread won't provide some good anecdotes and stories to highlight an opinion, of course, so look forward to seeing those.

It´s fairly easy to see how the guys are. But really easy to twist too. The most misunderstood one is ususally the one winning, since everything he´ll do will be twisted by rival fans to make him look bad. So probably Vettel. Every little thing he does in and off track is under heavy scrutinery and is likely to be twisted.

We never see them express themselves in a normal environment, so what do we really know about their character and make-up?

Everything they do and say is all done while being mindful of their team/sponsor responsibilities and/or with thoughts of what the media will make of anything they say or do. I include Kimi in that. The fact he says little is because he is very mindful of this stuff.

I can't vote in this poll because I feel I know very little about these people.

It´s fairly easy to see how the guys are. But really easy to twist too. The most misunderstood one is ususally the one winning, since everything he´ll do will be twisted by rival fans to make him look bad. So probably Vettel. Every little thing he does in and off track is under heavy scrutinery and is likely to be twisted.

"Look at that stupid thing he does with the finger, I hate it!"

Remember gherink (cucumber) and racket that followed?Some others instead say "idiot", and no one blinks.

The topic starter makes a one=one connection between the portrayal by the media and the level at which someone is understood or misunderstood. As far as I can see, often serious journalists portray famous persons exactly correct, but the public creates its own persona in its mind.

I've read a lot of profiles of Michael Schumacher, for example. And all the profiles say he is a genuinely nice guy... out of the cockpit. It are his actions on track that are criticized. His fans felt he was villified.

Aerton Senna is another case in point. I think a lot of serious journalists who worked in F1 seemed to understand Senna to the bone. He was exactly the same person outside the car as he was in: someone for whom winning was more important than his life (and that of others). His fans felt he was vilified.

Hamilton? I think most of the serious F1-journalists know exactly what makes him tick and respect his talents, admire him even... but they also criticize his on-track behaviour which makes his fans mad.

My point is: if, as F1-fan, you read carefully, use diverse media, and try to see which journalists are objective, you can paint a pretty accurate picture of the driver in question.

No, you can paint the picture you want to paint.

No one here can answer the question because as soon as we call a particular driver the most misunderstood he is no longer misunderstood. All we'd do is paint a different picture in our minds, a more positive one, but it will still be based on so much sand.

I don't really get the need to feel an emotional connection with these people anyway. I'm sure they're all pretty decent blokes away from F1, but F1 doesn't make anyone a more appealing character. Stick to people who don't swim with piranhas if you want moral heroes.

Over the years, I have always felt Raikkonen is misunderstood. His introverted personality has been the reason, yet those who have followed him in much more detail know that he is much more than that.

Next, I would say Vettel. The high-stakes F1 world, for the fans that is, have made lot of fans shun him due to various reasons - general looks, outwardly mannerisms (finger, shouting, screaming, etc.), crashes, jealousy.. But in reality I think he is the friendliest of all drivers, has great sense of humour and is arguably the most charismatic. It's just the early success that have made people shun him, but as time goes on he would be appreciated for his true self. Ecclestone would probably consider him to be the best champion for marketability and crowd-pleasing values.

Well, we have internet; medium for instant communication, a world totally unknown to Senna. Pitty, we would learn a thing or two about hot blooded Latino.

People at the sharp point of the stick are more watched, and more often quoted, even more often misquoted, than lets say junior at the back. We can live with that.

Media are known to be really inventive what is quoted, how much, and in what context (mostly without one). We know now what to expect.

Sebastian is no different then others, and he has his detractors, as Schumacher had, Hamilton has, and so on. Not big deal. Talking badly about Vettel is not a hateful speech, just personal perspective, and we can think about it whatever we want.

The topic starter makes a one=one connection between the portrayal by the media and the level at which someone is understood or misunderstood. As far as I can see, often serious journalists portray famous persons exactly correct, but the public creates its own persona in its mind.

My point is: if, as F1-fan, you read carefully, use diverse media, and try to see which journalists are objective, you can paint a pretty accurate picture of the driver in question.

I agree with some of your points but the purpose of this poll is based more on the media persona one comes across most often, something like the general public. So I am not looking for the poll to be the most 'correct' one, but one that gives a rough idea of which drivers the media tends to exaggerate or perhaps make a caricature of most often. That is what I included the link to the Humphrey's interview - it is the origin of this topic - because he made a clear distinction that while Kimi's 'Iceman' persona is precisely the one Kimi wants to portray, Sebastian's persona in the media is often that of a 'lucky' driver which Humphrey clearly disagreed with.

The only people who can answer this question with any degree of honesty or accuracy are those who know the drivers enough to understand how different the media portrayal is. If you think a driver is different from the media image all you are really doing is comparing two media portrayals and finding one more to your liking or satisfaction than another because this is the only window you have into their world. For example with Vettel one might read a Daily Mail article portraying him as a spoiled brat ungrateful for his #1 status but then see him joking and laughing with Rocky in a VT item on weekend race coverage. Depending upon how you already feel about him one of these images will reinforce your opinion and away you go. Neither of them tell you anything about what he's like as a man, whether he hold doors open for women or visits his aging grandparents regularly and anyone who prefers the version of Vettel you reject is a fanboi or h8r. Innit.

In other words, I don't see that there's any meaningful discussion available around this question unless we all put our bonafides out there and say which of the drivers we know or have heard anecdotes about from reliable sources, collate the information and then conclude. 'I heard from a friend who knows someone who once asked Hamilton for an autograph' isn't good enough and a poll won't achieve anything at all except become another popularity contest.

That's not to say the thread won't provide some good anecdotes and stories to highlight an opinion, of course, so look forward to seeing those.

While I agree we cannot know for certain what the drivers are exactly like, I do think we (the general Autosport forumers, not the trolls) can distinguish exaggerations from portrayals that are more likely the reality. Sure we may gravitate to portrayals more to our liking, but even I can see the 'clean cut' portrayal that some fans put on Sebastian Vettel is just as wrong as the 'evil finger villain' haters prefer. So in a way, the more extreme a portrayal, the less likely is true. This topic is then about which drivers are so exaggerated that those who aren't fans of F1 would immediately get a wrong impression of (AKA misunderstood).

I think anecdotes if any, or stories would be fantastic, and this topic definitely hopes to unearth some of that. But more than that, we can also consider which driver's personalities are more easily distorted because we don't know enough about them. Like Maldonado for one. The 'evil crash king' is so incongruent to the respectful winner of Spain 2012 (especially when he gave tribute to Sir Williams) that there must be a disconnect somewhere. I may not have enough information to know which one is the 'real' Maldonado, but by bringing up the contrast, we can see there is some misunderstanding, since at least one of the two portrayals must be exaggerated (if not both).

Misunderstood....are any of them UNDERSTOOD?

We never see them express themselves in a normal environment, so what do we really know about their character and make-up?

Everything they do and say is all done while being mindful of their team/sponsor responsibilities and/or with thoughts of what the media will make of anything they say or do. I include Kimi in that. The fact he says little is because he is very mindful of this stuff.

I can't vote in this poll because I feel I know very little about these people.

True, so anecdotes, if any, will definitely help. I have saved a few articles/forum posts in the past, so I will add a few 'portrayals' of some drivers as I find them. This isn't the definitive post of 'Driver A is a great person and so misunderstood', but a suggestion of 'Driver A is so exaggerated by the media fuss, I wish we could know more about how he is like as a driver'. It is created for us to share how we feel being under the spotlight has distorted some of the drivers personalities, and (for myself) to take away some of my dislike for some drivers because the media exaggerated him. In a way, I hope this can be an exercise in tempering dislike, although I do fear (as I always do whenever I post) trolls will invade. But hopefully we can ignore that.

No, you can paint the picture you want to paint.

No one here can answer the question because as soon as we call a particular driver the most misunderstood he is no longer misunderstood. All we'd do is paint a different picture in our minds, a more positive one, but it will still be based on so much sand.

I don't really get the need to feel an emotional connection with these people anyway. I'm sure they're all pretty decent blokes away from F1, but F1 doesn't make anyone a more appealing character. Stick to people who don't swim with piranhas if you want moral heroes.

I love that idea that such a topic can turn a misunderstood driver into an understood one, but as your posts states, we are still forming an opinion second or third hand. Nonetheless, if we recognize a driver is misunderstood, surely that should be a reminder to ourselves that we shouldn't judge too harshly? At least I hope so.

I find some fans are getting more and more disillusioned by the sport, and are losing respect for the drivers as a result. Maybe it is silly, but I hope this topic can remind us that not everything we read is fact, and so return a little of the respect we have lost for each driver along the way. *shrugs*

Nowadays, I'd say that Alonso too is pretty misunderstood, mainly because people will turn every word which comes out of his mouth into a mind-game conspiracy theory.

I do agree. While part of it is his willingness to play mind games (Mourinho-syndrome ), I think the other part comes from the idea that Alonso only cares about winning and nothing else. Even with his highly amusing Samurai quotes, I think some take it too seriously. I personally thought of it much like the 'Confucius says' jokes, and remind myself that Alonso - being human - can surely have a sense of humour as well.

Let's be honest, ever since 2012 both Maldonado and Grosjean have been caricatured (see the photoshopped thread too) as basically brainless idiots. Retards. Some people take it even as far as saying they are indeed idiots and can't understand anything that is going around them.

I'd wager as guess even if their racecraft-skills are not really as well-honed as the ones of top drivers, they are still normal human beings. Just there is one particular area, where their skillset needs a bit of an improvement. Just like with all of us, we may lack skills in something and make stupid mistakes if we were given a task. But other than that we can still be smart people.

But the way they (RoGro and Maldo) are portrayed is that they are not normal human beings, but idiots.

Nowadays, I'd say that Alonso too is pretty misunderstood, mainly because people will turn every word which comes out of his mouth into a mind-game conspiracy theory.

I'm actually starting to slowly grow to like Alonso again :o

since his german teams quote that was funny xD...

most misunderstood is a hard question to answer... I picked Seb cause I think some words said about him are just unfair... same goes for Sutil.... I don't think he is a violent psycho as some people make him out to be...

but the people who picked Charles Pic, why is he misunderstood? Not saying he isn't, you just barely hear anything about him so I'm curious as to where he is misunderstood

Ironically, you could ask what the most popular (or fastest) drivers are and get similar results. Only when a driver is popular enough for some people to know a lot of details of their lives, they can give a somewhat reasonable vote (I couldn't).

I do think he is being portrayed in an unfair way recently, and I think other people share that view no matter who they support. I like him but I don´t cheer for him.

Well, either you're right, or you're a case in [my] point.

Doesn't matter if you say you support him, or just that you 'like' him. The thing is, people mainly regard other people they like as 'misunderstood', it's rarely a term that springs to mind about people one despises.

So in the end this is just another popularity poll like most of them, IMO.

Grosjean. Unfortunate to become fans pet hate object when there was a vacant spot following some unlucky and poor starts which then no doubt spiraled into a self-fulfilling paralysis. We've seen worse repeat crash offenders in F1 who never got this much of a reputation. I bet just slightly different starts to his first races of 2012, or Maldonado not winning and Spain and thus becoming the inevitable fans and medias bully victim, and Grosjean would be free to develop some of his in my opinion considerable talent.

So the bottom line, I don't think that the media portrays them incorrectly - I just think it allows us to see so many of their characteristics that it is hard to render a fictional character for them (because that is what people try to do, but they are alas, human). With fans, the more positive attributes are most evident and although you get a more personal glimpse, you see less of the whole range of their personality - at least in a crowd.

I also met these two in a one on one situation, and I can verify that they are both indeed, human.

I do think he is being portrayed in an unfair way recently, and I think other people share that view no matter who they support. I like him but I don´t cheer for him.

Not sure what you mean by that since we currently have the four most popular drivers in the lead and only then with a few votes. 22 for Vettel isn't a lot is it?

I think as65p has it spot on. "If only they could see what I see they would all understand. There would be no more trolling and hating, and peace would reign on the forum and they would all hail me as a visionary who could see clearly when they were blind." It's a beautiful sentiment that is but a dream.

I voted for Sutil because a little pat on the cheek is always misunderstood when the hand has a champagne glass in it.